


Charming Him With Food

by BumbleBeeDoll



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Crush at First Sight, Fluff and Humor, Kaz owns a burger joint, M/M, Paz is there too!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-03-12 00:39:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13535982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BumbleBeeDoll/pseuds/BumbleBeeDoll
Summary: Kaz worked swiftly on the grill, occasionally looking up at John sitting over by the window. It seemed like John was just watching the people go by outside as he sat with his arms crossed while waiting for his food. With his bigger stature, he was definitely intimidating sitting like that. A demeanor like that would usually put people off but Kaz couldn't help but find him captivating.--Kaz runs a burger joint with the help of Paz and ends up with a big ol' crush on a certain customer with an eye patch.





	1. Order Up!

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back!!  
> This was originally my idea for BBKaz day that I never got the chance to write 

"Have a nice day!" 

Kaz had just called after the latest customer leaving his restaurant. He took great pride in his establishment, a simple, hole in the wall burger joint. Everything ran pretty smoothly here, Kaz would ring up orders and then proceed to openly cook them on the grill and then pass the order off onto his only employee Paz who would bring the food to the proper customers. She helped out by doing other odd jobs as well, such as helping take orders, wiping down tables and assisting him in keeping track of inventory. Kaz felt like the two made a great team. 

Although they weren’t always bustling with customers, they had enough to stay open and keep busy so the days never went by slowly. Most of their customers were regulars who had stumbled across the place by accident. Kaz looked forward to seeing them and always thanked them for coming by. 

While cleaning a spot on his grill he heard the jingle of the bell above the door signaling another customer had just entered. The counter with the register also extended to include the grill so customers could watch their food being made if they wanted to. With a see-through half wall of course for safety. This was also so Kaz could easily see his customers enter, leave and also enjoy their food.

“Welcome! Let me know when you’re ready to order!” He heard Paz call out while she wiped down the table their previous customer had just used. Looking up, he saw a man staring at their menu figuring out what to order. Kaz's own stare lingered longer than it should have on the man and when the man looked over at him Kaz swiftly looked back down at his grill.

 _Shit._  He thought to himself, now cleaning the same spot over and over. He just hadn’t expected the man to be so…  _handsome._ He couldn't have helped but stare.

The man was tall, definitely muscular and had a thick beard. He also curiously had an eye patch but Kaz didn’t care about that, it somehow made him even more attractive. The ruggedness of him just instantly captured Kaz's attention. 

Finally noticing that he had been scrubbing the same spot for the past minute or so, Kaz abruptly stopped and made his way to the register. He adjusted his apron and hoped his hair wasn't out of place as he went over to stand behind the register.

“I got this one, Paz.” He said over to her and she gave him a thumbs up before going back to cleaning. He was always a little embarrassed by the "uniform" she picked out for herself. She wore a simple, short-sleeved navy dress with white ruffles and a matching apron around her waist. The combination made Kaz think of the maid cafes over in Japan and when he told her that, Paz just laughed. 

Bringing his attention back to the register, he watched as the man approached him, ready to order. They went through the simple process of getting his order in and Kaz rung him up.

“Can I get a name for the order?” Kaz asked him, flashing him his signature, charming smile. He saw out of the corner of his eye Paz giving him a confused look and then shaking her head. 

The method used here was assigning a number to the order and then giving the customer a number card to put on their table. That way when there are multiple customers, Paz is easily able to give everyone their orders.

Asking for a name wasn't exactly part of this.

"John." Came the gruff reply and Kaz wrote it down, pretending it was really part of the order.

"Well, thank you, John. Paz will bring your order over to you when it's ready." Kaz said to him, keeping his smile on his face. John simply nodded his head and then left Kaz to go sit at a table with his number card. Kaz was hoping for a little more than just a nod but he shrugged and went to work on cooking, happy that he was able to slyly get his name. Hopefully, he could get a chance to chat with this man named John just a little bit before he left.

Kaz worked swiftly on the grill, occasionally looking up at John sitting over by the window. It seemed like John was just watching the people go by outside as he sat with his arms crossed while waiting for his food. With his bigger stature, he was definitely intimidating sitting like that. A demeanor like that would usually put people off but Kaz couldn't help but find him captivating. 

Kaz made sure his meal came out perfect with the hope of John returning here. He wanted to know more about this guy. It wasn't every day an extremely attractive man comes into his restaurant. Who also happens to be seemingly his type. 

Finishing up John's meal, he presented it nicely on the tray and considered sliding his number written on a piece of paper on there too but thought it'd be too pushy right now. Kaz was usually the type to go right for it but he wasn't sure what this man would do. 

For now, he'd just go the charming route.

"Order up, Paz!" He called out to Paz who was taking another customer's order who had just come in. "Got it! Here's the next order." She told him merrily, as she handed him the ticket for the meal order while walking past him. Making her way around the counter and taking the tray of food carefully, Paz walked over to John while Kaz watched. 

"Enjoy your meal!" Paz said to John cheerfully while she placed his food in front of him. 

"Thanks." He grumbled out like before when he gave Kaz his name and Paz made her way back to behind the counter. 

As he worked on the next order, Kaz kept glancing up to see if John liked his food. It seemed like he was, he was eating a little aggressively so maybe that was a good sign? Or was he just trying to get the food down because it tasted bad?

More customers came in and Kaz was getting flooded with cooking up the orders so much that he couldn't really pay attention to John anymore. Paz was bustling back and forth from the register then to giving customers their food and then to cleaning up tables then back to the register to do the loop again. 

Once they had a moment to breathe Kaz realized to his dismay that John must have left since his table was now occupied by another customer. All he could hope was that his food was good enough that John would come back soon. 

\---

With the last customer out the door and it now being past their hours of operation, Paz flipped their sign on the window to the side with  _C_ _losed_  written on it. Taking in a deep breath, she turned around and looked across the restaurant, analyzing the cleaning needed to be done before she could go home.

After wiping down all the tables and putting up the chairs onto them, she decided to start mopping the floor. As she went towards the closet to get the mop, she stopped short and watched Kaz fully cleaning the grill. 

She remembered what happened earlier and needed to question him on what the hell that was that he was trying to pull. Even though he was technically her boss, their relationship wasn't really that of boss and employee but more of friends or even brother and sister. Things were so laid back here with it just being the two of them that there was no need for formalities between them, especially with no customers around.

He felt her eyes on him and looked up at her.

"What?" He asked her, a slight smile on his face. Paz crossed her arms and quirked her eyebrow at him.

"What was  _that_  earlier? With the eye patch man?" She asked him, trying to hide her own smile. Kaz's smile turned into a smirk. 

Paz was always very cheerful with their customers and kept a smile on her face but when it was just the two of them, she changed a little. Nothing dramatic but she could get sassy with Kaz. It was obvious she put on a happier, innocent persona for their customers but the two never really talked about it. It wasn't like it was a bad thing and their restaurant could boast excellent customer service because of it.

She was the one who would get on his case and try to keep him in line. Kaz knew she was going to come to him about earlier and kept his air of aloofness.

"I believe his name is  _John,_  not eye patch man _,_ Paz." Kaz corrected her, putting emphasis on his name. Paz rolled her eyes at him and left to go get the mop. As she came back, pushing the mop in the bucket, she was shaking her head like earlier.

"I'm surprised you didn't try to slide your number onto his tray." 

"I almost did."

"Kaz!"

"But I decided against it!" Kaz defended himself, putting his hands up. Paz's stern face came undone quickly as she let out a laugh. As obnoxious as Kaz could be, he still made her laugh. She could never be actually mad at him for this sort of thing. This was who he was. It wasn't like he had ill intentions when it came to stuff like this. Paz just wasn't sure if he was just really lusty or fell for people fast.

"You gotta admit, the whole name thing was pretty smooth, right?" He grinned at her and she only laughed in response. He could act like such a character sometimes.

"Unfortunately, he left before I could say anything else to him," Kaz said, returning to his work of cleaning the grill and his mood now shifting. Paz could see that it was getting to him and decided to throw him a line. Even though he could sometimes get annoying over stuff like this, she didn't want to see him upset.

"He really liked the food." She said softly, hoping it was what he needed. She wasn't lying either. As she took John's tray away from him when he had finished earlier, he said so to her. 

Kaz instantly brightened back up and had his usual wide grin on his face again. 

"Great!" He said enthusiastically.  "That’s... That's so great!"

"Ah, yeah," Paz replied, not expecting him to get this worked up over it.

"Do you think he would come back here?" He asked her, his demeanor reminding Paz that of a puppy. 

"Well, I guess? He seemed like the type that likes food and he liked ours so..."

Before she could fully finish her sentence, Kaz thrust his fist up in triumph while knocking various things over with his outburst. Paz only laughed at him over this while he hastily tried to catch everything before they fell to the ground.

Sure, Kaz gave off the aura of being charming and suave but it was really just for show. 

"You're such a dork," Paz said as she walked off to finally start mopping, still laughing at him.

\---

As Kaz finished up the final tasks for the night before they officially locked up to go home, his mind wouldn't stop wandering back to John. He really hoped he would come back here again. If he did, maybe Kaz could actually be able to talk to him. He didn't know what about yet but Kaz was confident enough he could come up with something on the spot, it was what he was good at. 

But what if John didn't come back? What if this was just another fleeting wannabe fling?

Kaz shook his head.

Putting his usual grin back on his face, he thought of what Paz said.

And looked forward to John coming back again.


	2. You want... What?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John is back and Kaz is a little more than thrilled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm back with more of this silly little story! This is a nice break from the angst that is my VQuiet AU right now hahaha

Letting out a yawn, Kaz stretched his arms upwards before dropping his body back into the comfort of his couch. It was his day off and he had spent most of it doing nothing. With how much he worked during the week, Kaz spent most of his days off resting and relaxing. 

_I wonder if Paz is the same way..._  

He told her that she didn’t need to work the same schedule as him, which consisted of a late morning shift into the evening and only one day off. But Paz insisted, telling him that he needed her and the burger joint would go to hell if she wasn’t there. He had laughed at her response but he still remembered her making a mumbled comment afterward of how she also needed the money. 

Kaz looked after the younger girl like she was a little sister and always made sure she was okay and taken care of. While she would bust his balls every now and then, he definitely valued her as his only employee.

His mind wandered back to the conversation the two of them had about that handsome man who had come in a few weeks ago now.

_John..._

He only came in that one time and still hasn’t come back. Kaz was starting to think he wouldn’t come back at all. That thought left Kaz a little cold but he had this unwavering confidence that John would be back.

…

Right?

\---

The small restaurant had been open for a few hours and Kaz worked quietly but diligently on his prized grill. Paz walked by him with a stack of trays and only shook her head at him. 

“You can’t mope forever, you know.” She whispered to him from behind him, mindful of the happy customers eating in the dining room. 

“I’m  _not_  moping.” He muttered back over his shoulder, flipping a burger with slightly more aggression than needed. Paz raised her eyebrows at him but shook her head yet again. “Yeah, keep telling yourself that.”

Knowing she was getting nowhere with her boss, who absolutely  _was_  moping, Paz went over to their sink and began to rinse the trays.

The door into their small shop opened and Kaz swiftly looked up and a wide smile crossed his features as the man he had been waiting for had finally came.

_John!_  Kaz thought as he finished up the burger he was working on and walked over to the cash register.

_And here we go..._  Paz thought, looking over her shoulder at the two of them to steal a glance but then went back to rinsing. 

John strode over to the counter and looked up at the menu with his arms crossed. While he waited patiently, Kaz took the time to admire the gruff, muscular man. He was wearing jeans and a tight fitting t-shirt today and Kaz couldn’t help himself from staring at his torso. When he heard John’s footsteps approaching him, Kaz snapped out of his gaze and grinned at John.

“Hey there, John!” He said charmingly to him and John only responded with a nod. 

_Oh_ _, typical_ _John!_ Kaz thought gleefully to himself like he actually knew him. He didn’t care if he looked foolish, Kaz had been waiting for days to see if John would return to his burger joint.

“Back for more of my burgers?” He asked John, his overconfidence showing through and Paz rolled her eyes at his words. 

“Yeah.” Was the short reply he got from John.

“Great!”

“Yeah.”

Paz bit her lip at the idiocy of this one-sided conversation, trying not to make a peep knowing that Kaz would berate her later for it if she did.

“I’ve tried coming before but you were never open,” John told Kaz and Kaz’s eyebrows shot up at his words. A warmth in his chest began to spread with this new knowledge. 

“Oh, really? Sorry about that!”

“Yeah, but I seem to have finally come across here when you are open after a few failed guesses,” John said nodding his head to himself, seemingly proud that he came here at the right time.

“Ah... Well, we do have our hours of operation on our door.” Kaz pointed over at the door as he told him this and John looked back at the door as well.

“Ah. So you do.” He grumbled, and while he had his head turned Kaz looked back to Paz who only gave him a look of  _This is the guy you fell for_  while she shook her head and looked as if she was trying not to laugh.

John turned back to Kaz.

“Good to know.” 

At his words, Kaz snapped his head back to John and gave him a shaky laugh.

“Anyway... What can I get for you?” He asked him, his grin returning to normal. As John ordered his food, Kaz entered the order for him, already looking forward to John eating his food.

“Oh, by the way,” Kaz started as he swiped John’s card for the payment. “I’m always open to new burger ideas. You know... If there’s anything you’d like to be put on a burger. Just let me know!” He told John cheerfully.

_Smooth, Kaz._ Paz thought to herself, wondering where the hell that all came from.

“Hmm.” John crossed his arms and visibly seemed to be actually thinking about it. He then proceeded to list all types of food items, from mac and cheese to onion rings all the way to freaking... squirrel?! 

Paz looked over her shoulder at the two of them unable to hide her horrified and disgusted face.

“O-Oh boy... I’m not sure about squirrel... But I can come up with something with those other things!” Kaz tried to keep his staple grin but it definitely faltered at some of John’s ideas but luckily John didn’t seem to notice as he tattered on.

John gave him a nod and Kaz, moving on from whatever all that was, let him know that he’d have his food ready in no time. As John walked over to the same spot as last time, Kaz got to working on his order. 

Within no time Kaz had his food ready and Paz came up beside him to take the tray. Looking down, she watched as Kaz carefully placed everything on the plate, trying to make it look as neat and presentable as possible.

“You know... Pretty sure a guy like him, who apparently eats squirrels-” Kaz cut her off with a glare and then he stood up straight, finished with his work.

“I take pride in my food so it always has to look good too along with the flavor.” He told her and Paz could only give him another eye roll.

“Uh-huh, okay.” She responded sarcastically as she took the tray away. She approached where John was seated and greeted him with her signature cutesy smile.

“Hi! I’ve got your order right here, sir.” Her tone was sweet, completely different from only a few seconds before. John gave her a nod as she placed the tray in front of him and mumbled a small thanks. Paz practically skipped away from his table, greeting others seated in the dining area. Once she was behind the counter her smile fell and she crossed her arms.

Kaz smirked at her instant change but didn’t mention it.

\---

While working on other orders Kaz made sure to keep an eye on John over at his window seat. He didn’t want to let him leave without saying goodbye again. 

But...

Was he being too headstrong about this?

This was just some guy he’s only met twice now.

Was he acting too weird?

_...Nah!_ Kaz thought cheerfully to himself and went back to work. 

He noticed John finishing up his food and Kaz plated the last order he currently had, hoping he could snag John before he left. As John made his way to the door Kaz called out to him.

“Th-Thanks for coming in!” The words just came out and he cursed at himself inwardly for stuttering. John turned to him and Kaz swore he had the smallest of smiles on his face.

“The food was really good today.” 

Kaz couldn’t hold back the wide, toothy grin that broke across his face.

“Great to hear!” He replied, unable to hide the excitement in his tone. “See you again soon?”

John gave him one of his typical nods.

“Yeah.” 

And he was out the door.

Kaz stared after him, that same grin still on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Sorry it was kinda short. I'm trying to not have my chapter fics have such large gaps between chapters so next one should be soon!  
> [MGS Tumblr is pudgyvenomsnake.tumblr.com!!]

**Author's Note:**

> This is just the beginning! I'm not sure exactly how many chapters this will be but I do have it relatively all planned out!  
> Thank you so much for reading!!  
> [MGS Tumblr is pudgyvenomsnake.tumblr.com!!]


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